"Why do people choose the substitute over God himself? Probably the most important reason is that it obviates accountability to God. We can meet idols on our own terms because they are our own creations. They are safe, predictable, and controllable; they are, in Jeremiah's colorful language, the 'scarecrows in a cornfield' (10:5). They are portable and completely under the user's control. They offer nothing like the threat of a God who thunders from Sinai and whose providence in this world so often appears to us to be incomprehensible and dangerous . . . [People] need face only themselves. That is the appeal of idolatry."
- David F. Wells
Monday, March 14, 2011
Studio execs are scratching their heads over the latest unanticipated cinematic failure.
Disney’s latest 3-D animated film “Mars Needs Moms” may be one of the biggest box office bombs of all time.First of all, it's amazing that people paid millions of dollars still can't figure out why nobody goes to certain movies. But here are my guesses as to why families stayed away in droves from Mars Needs Moms.
Though released widely in 3,117 theaters over the weekend, the 3-D animated adventure earned a paltry $6.8 million. According to the box office tracking site, Box Office Mojo, that ranks among the top ten worst openings ever for a film distributed that broadly. Taking into account the high cost of tickets for 3-D and IMAX screens, along with the film’s reported $150 million budget, the sales numbers look downright disastrous.
Disney distribution president Chuck Viane was scratching his head on Sunday morning. “No one ever wants to open a movie this far below expectations,” he said. “We’re wondering what happened.”
1. The trailer is terrible. Assuming the rule that the funniest parts of a movie are in the preview, I can assume that the movie is 15x as unfunny as what I've already seen. Clueless aliens trying to sound "hip"? Not even the Coneheads could pull that hackiness off. There's nothing about the preview that makes me think I would enjoy this movie.
2. Who can afford ticket prices to a 3-D movie right now? I've actually been more interested in this movie over the last couple of weeks after reading a few good reviews, and after learning that Rango has some crude content in it that would prevent me from taking my girls, but given that the cinema experience for a family of 4 is already expensive, factoring in the additional cost of Mars Needs Mom's 3-D format makes it cost prohibitive. Until studios get serious about lowering ticket prices -- this is largely their fault, by the way, not the theater owners', who make such a slim percentage on ticket prices that they have resorted to jacking up concessions' costs -- more and more people will only go to the theater for event-type films and wait until DVD for the rest.
3. This motion-capture "realistic" animation stuff just looks flat-out creepy. It's not attractive. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't like it Polar Express either. Make a cartoon or make a live action movie. The boy and his mom in Mars Needs Moms creep me out. It's aesthetically repulsive. I know some people don't mind this format, but I think they are in the minority. (And I know it is sometimes done better than others.)
Trackbacks:
Trackback URL: http://thinklings.org/bloo.trackback.php/6383.
Comments on "Why "Mars Needs Moms" May Bomb":
2. Shrode
- 03/14/2011 10:51 am CDT
I'm glad for this post. I just read the article about box office results and was sad that this thing did so poorly.
I think the title might be part of the problem too, seriously.
It got a really great review from pluggedin.com - focus on the family's review site. It apparently does a great job with the message, and I was actually thinking about taking my kids to see it, but I didn't know about the 3d thing. Are they not showing it in 2D also?
What's sad, is that I'm afraid that this will just motivate filmmakers to make less kid friendly fare "for familys" and lots more kids cartoons with "almost, but not quite cussing" jokes and are otherwise totally aimed at an older "knowing" audience.
As for motion capture...it's like drinking coffee for the first time, dude. You have to force yourself to watch it enough that you don't notice its weirdness anymore. :-)
3. Shrode
- 03/14/2011 10:53 am CDT
Would it have helped if they had told people that it was based on a book by Berkley Breathed, Bloom County creator?
4. nhe
- 03/14/2011 11:46 am CDT
40% positive reviews on rottentomatoes.com, which is the seal of approval, or kiss of death for a lot of family films - above 60% helps a family film, below 50 usually kills it.
More families than ever are using that site and determining whether its a "rental" or worth loading up the mini-van for.
I agree on your #3 also - I reluctantly rented Disney's Christmas Carol - which had that feature to it - and it's distracting and cheesy......and something else I can't quite put my finger on.
5. Tony
- 03/14/2011 12:38 pm CDT
I couldn't agree more. I watched the previews over the weekend and thought that it lacked good characters. There were no "Woody and Buzz" type characters that made it appealing to watch and yes the animation is creepy. I haven't allowed my kids to watch Polar Express, they could have nightmares (Dad could have nightmares :) ).
Disney needs to stay away from "space" themed movies. At least Wall-E was somewhat cute.
7. dave
- 03/14/2011 2:36 pm CDT
Yeah. The promos were very bad. Made it seem like a low budget Weinstein company type knock off. I was surprised to find out it was Disney. Thing is, for what it's worth, it's gotta be better than the promo. Our family made no diff for it, though, as we have pretty much given up on movies at the theater anyway. We always wait for dvd. Movies at the theater cost waaaaaay too much for a family of 5.
10. Milly
- 03/19/2011 10:29 pm CDT
I took my kids to see Rango and I won't recommend it to anyone. It had some words that we don't use in my home.
they have resorted to jacking up concessions' costs
I knew theater owners and that is very true and has been for years. They were great to pop popcorn and let us bring in our own drinks to watch the movies. They always watched the movie before showing it to the public. They told me that they could show the movie for free because they make money off the concessions'
Leave a Comment:
Jared - I agree 100%, especially with #s 1 and 3.
There was nothing about the trailer that made this movie seem compelling, whatsoever. A John Candy-ish character (minus the humor) helping a kid in the midst of martians who find our earth words and movements so odd. It also seems crazy manipulative and somewhat disturbing - a kid's mom gets abducted into galactic slavery and he may never see her again. What kind of setup is that? The plot belongs in a documentary about human trafficking - not a disney animated feature.
Also - I agree with the weird Polar Express animation. I didn't prefer that movie. While my issues were more for other reasons than the creepy animation, the medium didn't help.
MNM seems stupid. Is that a title or the beginning of a pitch to the studio? They might have doubled their weekend gross (which still would have put it in the "bomb" category) by just naming the movie, "Mission to Mars" or "Mars Rescue" or something more non-descript.
All in all - the movie seems that it may have been doomed at square one. My guess is that there are writers who are falling over themselves to get a script to be purchased by producers/studios like Disney. My guess is that a random pick from any of these would have a 70% chance of yielding a better setup than this one.
I can't believe I just wrote that much about a movie I've never seen.